Coordinator, Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition
she/her
Wendy Allen is a 45 year woman who battled Substance Use Disorder and is in long term recovery. She is formerly incarcerated, and is living proof that recovery is possible. She currently holds many hats in the community. She is a grant writer and coordinator with Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, the Young Adult Diversion Program lead for Restorative Justice Institute of Maine, a Recovery and Re-entry Coach, as well as a Peer Support Specialist for Penobscot Family Recovery Court with Maine Prisoner Re-entry Network. She recovers loud for those suffering in silence. She is a wife, mother and grandmother that enjoys music, crafting and spending time with her family.
Wendy is also a Facilitator for Maine Humanities Discussion Projects and winner of the 2022 Maine Humanities Facilitator Prize.
Talks
Dare to Dream
This presentation is focused on Substance Use Disorder and Allen’s heart wrenching journey battling this disease, what led up to it, and how she has sustained a life in recovery. This is an eye opening presentation around the affects of internal and external stigma, how SUD affects one's thinking, actions and behaviors, and the struggles to survive while living a life in darkness.
This is a “through the lens” presentation that educates communities on the often unspoken truth of a person suffering with SUD, how families and communities are affected, what helps and hurts the one suffering, and how they think and feel before, during and after active use. It touches on how her incarceration and substance use affected her children, and sheds light on how easily this disease can destroy a life and the beauty of recovery.
Substance Use Disorder is taking the lives of our people every day. This strong presentation proves that recovery is possible, if they only dared to dream.
Poet/Author
she/her
Samara Cole Doyon is a second generation Haitian American and multi-generational Mainer–this state claiming half the roots of her family tree. She is a wife, mother, and teacher holding a BA in English from the University of Southern Maine and currently completing a Masters in Teaching and Learning.
She has been a regular contributor at Black Girl in Maine Media, has been featured in the Deep Water poetry column of the Portland Press Herald, and has authored children’s books Magnificent Homespun Brown (Tilbury House Publishers, January, 2020) and Magic Like That (Lee & Low Books, June 2021).
Talks
Embracing Our Magnificence as an Act of Resistance
A discussion based on my debut children’s book, Magnificent Homespun Brown, and how systematically marginalized people survive and transcend oppression through unapologetic self-love and jubilation.
Assistant Professor, School of Legal Studies, Husson University
Professor Kamorski is a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel with 24 years of active-duty service, including a combat tour in Afghanistan, 4 years at the Pentagon, and preparing Congressional testimony for the US Air Force Director of Operations.
He has served on faculty at the US Air Force Academy, the University of Virginia, Liberty University, James Madison University, and Piedmont Virginia Community College. Professor Kamorski become a full-time faculty member for Husson University in 2014 after retiring from military service.
Talks
Criminal Justice Discussions: Law Enforcement, Courts, Correctional System Challenges
200 Days in Afghanistan: USAF Deployment in 2009/10 as an Inspector General
Counterterrorism/Counterinsurgency Discussions: A Strategic Look at the Terrorist Threat
Leadership: Personal and Organizational, Defined and Applied
President, Khmer Maine
he/him
Marpheen Chann is an author, thinker, advocate, and speaker on social justice, equity, and inclusion.
As a gay, first-generation Asian American born in California to a Cambodian refugee family and later adopted by an evangelical, white working-class family in Maine, Marpheen uses a mix of humor and storytelling to help people view topics such as diveristy, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice through an intersectional and empathetic lens.
Marpheen Chann lives in Portland, Maine. He works in the nonprofit and advocacy sector and holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Southern Maine and a law degree from the University of Maine School of Law.
Talks
Welcome Home: My Journey Through Foster Care, Coming Out, and Reuniting with Family
Life is complicated and full of twists and turns. In “Welcome Home,” Marpheen shares his insights, lessons learned, and maybe a few laughs as he shares his story as a second-generation Cambodian American who went through foster care and adoption, struggled with fitting in and adapting to a white-majority community, and coming out as gay to his devoutly religious family.
The Empathy Effect: How to Have Conversations That Lead to Change
In a time of great division and anger nationwide, how do we go about changing hearts and minds when it comes to issues like diversity, inclusion, and equity? In a 40 minute presentation followed by Q+A discussion, Maine politician, author and civil rights advocate Marpheen Chann shares his personal story of growing up in Maine, coming out to his religious adoptive family, and the lessons he’s learned about how change can happen.
Moon in Full: A Modern-Day Coming-of-Age Book Talk
Moon in Full, a contemporary coming-of-age story, shines light on one young man’s search for truth and compassion in a complicated era as it unwinds the deep-seated challenges we all face finding our authentic voice and true identities. Author Marpheen Chann’s heart-warming journey weaves through housing projects and foster homes; into houses of worship and across college campuses; and playing out in working-class Maine where he struggles to find his place. Adopted into in a majority white community, Chann must reconcile his fears and secret longings as a young gay man with the devoutly religious beliefs of his new family. Chann, a second-generation Asian American, recounts what he has learned, what he has lost, and what he has found during his evolution from a hungry refugee’s son to religious youth to advocate for acceptance and equality.